Lawn-sprinkler



J P MAIN LAWN SPRINKLER.

(No Model.)

No. 575,966. Patent-ed Jan. 26,1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB F. MAIN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

LAWN-SPRINKLER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 575,966, dated January26, 1897. Application filed September 18, 1895. Serial No. 562,836. (Nomodel.)

To ctZZ whont it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JACOB F. MAIN, of Boston, in the county of Suffolkand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Lawn-Sprinklers, of which the following, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in lawn-sprinklers of that classin which the direction of the spray or flow of water from the nozzle ornozzles of the sprinkler is automatically and constantly changed by theaction of the water as it flows through the sprinkler.

My invention consistsin the novel construction, arrangement, andcombination of parts,

as will be fully described hereinafter and set forth in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which form an essential part ofthis specification, and whereon the improved sprinkler has been shown inits preferred form, Figure 1 represents a central vertical section ofthe sprinkler complete. Fig. 2 represents an enlarged horizontal sectionthrough the inlet to the sprinkler on the line A B in Fig. 1. Fig. 3represents an enlarged horizontal section on the line C D in Fig. 1,showing the means employed to cause the rotatable casing to slowlyrotate upon the stationary casing. Fig. 4 represents a detailcross-section on the line E F in Fig. 1, showing the means employed toshut off any one of the outlets from the rotating part of the casing ofthe water-chamber. Fig. 5 represents a detail section of thedischargenozzle of one of the radiating arms when arranged to dischargea solid stream of water. Fig. 6 represents a detail section of thenozzle used on the outlet from the rotatable casing, showing the samewhen arranged to discharge the water in the form of spray.

The same characters represent the same parts on the difierent parts ofthe drawings.

The standard a, for the support of the working parts of the sprinkler ispreferably made in the form of a tripod having each leg provided with apointed projection, which tends to hold the sprinkler steady in itsposition on a lawn; but other forms of standards may be used, if sodesired.

To the upper part of the supporting-standard is attached the cup-shapedcasing 17, which is provided with a screw-threaded shank and is screwedthrough a threaded perforation in the standard, being provided on itsunder side with a check-nut b, or the casing 12 may be attached to thestandard in any other suitable manner. A garden-hose is attachable tothe inlet 11 of this casing in any suitable and well-known manner, butpreferably by a coupling b as shown on the drawings, and supplies waterunder pressure to the chamber contained within said casin g. The upperedge of the casing Z) is screw-threaded, and a secondinverted-cup-shaped casin g c is loosely and rotatably attached to thescrew-threaded upper edge of the casing 11 by means of thescrew-threaded ring 0 in a manner substantially as shown on the drawingsand which will be readily understood by reference thereto withoutfurther description. The casing c is provided with one or more sideoutlets 0 (one ofsuch outlets only having been shown) and a top outlet 0It will be seen that the cupshaped casings b and 0 form an internalchamber cl, through which all of the water passes in its passage throughthe sprinkler.

To the top outlet 0 of the casing c is loosely and rotatabl y securedthe vertical stand-pipe e, and the connection between the casing c andsaid stand-pipe forms a bearing on which the stand-pipe rotates, itbeing made watertight by means of the packing and gland f. To the upperend of the stand-pipe e are secured the radiating arms e e, whichradiate in a horizontal direction and are provided on their outer endswith the nozzles e 6 the particular construction of which will bedescribed hereinafter. The nozzles e are set at such angles that thedischarge of the water under pressure from said nozzles will cause thearms to-rotate and the stand-pipe to turn continu-- ally in the bearingon the casing c in a manner similar to many of the lawn-sprinklers nowin common use.

The nozzles e are attached to the arms e in such a manner that the angleat which the water is discharged from said nozzles may be varied at willby turning the nozzles upon the arms to the desired position. Toaccomplish this result, I provide the outer ends of the arms 6 withscrew-threads, and upon said threads are screwed the nozzles 6 Achecknut e is also screwed upon each of the arms 6' inside of thenozzle, and awasher e, of rubher or other elastic and f riction-producing material, is placed upon the arm 6 between the nozzle and thecheck-nut. Thus it will be seen that the nozzle is turned upon the armuntil it is in the desired position. The checknut is then turned uponthe arm until it has forced the rubber washer against the end of thenozzle with sufficient force to produce sufficient friction to hold thenozzle in its place and also to prevent any liability of leakage throughthe joint between the arm and the nozzle.

The nature of the washer allows of the turning of the nozzle to produceany slight change in the direction of the discharge of the water fromthe nozzle withoutadjustment of the check-nut.

The nozzles c are preferably made bellshaped and provided at or neartheir center with one or m ore small perforations e,through which thewater is normally discharged in one or more small but solid streams. Ifitis desired to change the character of the discharge of water from thenozzles e from a solid stream to a more or less divided spray or a sheetof water, I provide the nozzle with a plug 6, adapted to be placedwithin the bellshaped mouth of the nozzle and adjustably held there bymeans of a yoke (2 upon which the plug e is screwed in order to adjustthe spray. The other end of the yoke c is adjusted within a perforationin the body of the nozzle and held when adjusted by means of thecheck-1111126 The under side of the plug is made to substantiallyconform to the bell shape of the nozzle. \Vhen the plug is not to beused to produce a spray from the nozzles, itis removed therefrom byswinging it to one side, as shown in Fig. 5. It will be seen that whenit is desired to produce a very fine spray from the nozzle 6 its plug 6will be adj usted very close to the bell-shaped cavity in the nozzle,leaving a very small space between the plug and nozzle, and that thecharacter of the spray will be varied by the adjustment of the plug uponthe yoke toward or from the cavity in the nozzle. It will also be seenthat the use of this peculiarly-constructed nozzle is not confined tothis sprinkler alone, as it may be applied to many of the commonsprinklers now in use, and in fact could be applied to the commongarden-hose nozzle, if so desired.

On the drawings only one side outlet has been shown from the casing 0;but it will be readily understood that several of such outlets might beused, if so desired. To this side outlet is secured an elbowg by meansof the coupling g in such a manner that the angle at which said elbow isattached to the outlet may be changed, so as to discharge the water invarious directions. To this elbow is secured the nozzle 9 which nozzle,when in the position shown in Fig. 1, will discharge a solid stream ofwater. This nozzle 9 is so constructed that it can be reversed, theopposite end of the nozzle being attached to the elbow, as shown in Fig.6. hen in that position, the plug 9 which is adj ustable upon the yoke gmaybe adjusted within the bellshaped end of the nozzle and cause a sprayof water to be discharged from this nozzle in a manner similar to thatdescribed in relation to the nozzles 6 It is sometimes desirable toprevent the discharge of water from the side outlet 0 in the casing c,and for this purpose said outlet is provided with the partition 0 whichcovers a little more than one-half of the cross-sectional area of saidoutlet. The elbow g is also provided with the partition 9 which alsocovers a little more than one-half of the crosssectional area of saidelbow and will entirely close the outlet when the elbow is turnedone-half a revolution and the nozzle thereon is pointing downward. Thisarrangement completely shuts off the outlet 0 and prevents the liabilityof a solid stream of water being forced directly downward against thelawn while the nozzle is in an inverted position, which would tend towash away the lawn. By means of the coupling g the elbow is held firmlyin its adjusted position and against the outlet 0 It will be understoodthat the casing 0 might be made to rotate upon the casing b by thedischarge of the water from the nozzle 9 and especially if several sideoutlets with nozzles were used in connection with the casing c in amanner similar to that of the action of the arms ('2'; bu tin order toprovide positive means whereby the casing 0 may be slowly rotated thecasings Z) and c are provided, respectively, with the internal gears ban d 0 both of which mesh into a pinion h, mounted on a crankarm 1',firmly secured to a vertical shaft 76 within the chamber (Z. Thisvertical shaft has bearings at its ends within the casings h and c, andis caused to rotate in its bearings by means of a fan or wheel, firmlysecured to the shaft and acted upon by means of the flow of waterthrough the chamber dfrom the inlet 19 The number of teeth in the gear13 differ from those in the gear 0 and as both gears mesh into the samepinion and also as the casing Z) is held stationary upon the standard ait will be seen that when the shaft 70 is rotated, carrying with it thecrank-arm and the pinion 77-, a slow rotary motion will be imparted tothe casing 0 upon the casing Z) by means of the differential gears b and0 This slow rotation of the casing 0 will cause the water dischargedfrom the nozzle 9 to be discharged in a circle around the sprinkler as acenter. The size of the circle covered by the water from the nozzle gmay be increased or diminished according to the angle of inclination ofthe elbow g, as will readily be seen.

In order to get the best effect of the flow of water upon the wheel Z,the inlet 19 does not enter the casing 1) upon a radius, but rather upona line parallel to a tangent of the circular casing, so that the waterfrom the inlet will strike at one side of the center of the wheel. Toprevent any unnecessary friction upon the shaft is, the lower end ofsaid shaft is preferably stepped upon a ball m, free to rotate withinthe bearing for said shaft.

It will be obvious that the outlet 0 from the casing 0, its connectedstand-pipe e, and radiating arms e might be dispensed with and theremaining parts of the sprinkler, as herein described, be used with goodresults, if so desired, especially if a plurality of nozzles wereconnected to the rotating casing c and preferably having each of saidnozzles varying from the others as to the character of the discharge ofwater therefrom.

Having thus fully described the nature,

construction, and operation of my invention, what I wish to secure byLetters Patent and claim is 1. Inalawn-sprinkler, a standard or support,a stationary casing thereon, an inlet in said casing to communicate witha supply of water, a rotatable casing attached to the stationary casing,a discharge-nozzle from the rotatable casing, and internal differentialgears one on each of said casings, a pinion meshing into said gears, afan or wheel located within the flow of water through the sprinklerturned thereby, and connected mechanism between the fan and pinion,whereby the rotatable casing is slowly rotated upon the stationary casing for the purpose set forth.

2. In a lawn-sprinkler, a standard or support, a stationary casingthereon, an inlet in said casing to communicate with a supply of water,a rotatable casing attached to the stationary casing, a discharge-outletfrom said rotatable casing, internal gears upon each casing the numberof teeth in each gear differing from that in the other, a pinion meshinginto both gears and mechanism substantially as described to cause saidpinion to rotate bodily around the surface of said gears whereby therotatable casing is caused to slowly rotate upon the stationary casingfor the purpose set forth.

3. In a lawn-sprinkler, a standard or support, a stationary casingattached thereto,

an inlet in said casing to communicate with a supply of water, arotatable casing attached to the stationary casing, discharge-outletfrom said rotatable casing, internal gears upon each of said casings thenumber of teeth in each gear differing from that in the other, a pinionmeshing into both gears, a crank-arm carrying said pinion, a shaft uponwhich the crank-arm is firmly mounted, a fan or wheel upon the shaftlocated within the flow of water through thesprinkler and acted uponthereby, for the purpose set forth.

4. In a lawn-sprinkler, a standard or support, two casings mountedthereon one stationary and the other rotatable upon the stationarycasing, an inlet to the stationary casing, an outlet to the rotatablecasing, and internal mechanism operated by the flow of water through thesprinkler whereby the rota- JACOB F. MAIN.

Witnesses HENRY OHADBOURN, HARRY N. SQUIRES.

